LANCASTER LORE
The Morecambe Clock Society
On the first Wednesday of every month at 7pm, the Morecambe Clock Society meet at the Queen Street Clock Shop. Most of the members don't actually turn up until 7:01pm because at 7pm exactly, every alarm clock in the shop goes off at once. The buzzing and clanging and cuckooing creates a great deal of noise and Little Ben, the owner of the shop, has to run around frantically switching them all off.
As you would expect of a Clock Society, no-is ever actually late (apart from poor old Albert who always turns up at quarter past seven puffing and panting with his three grandfather clocks piled up in his little wheelbarrow.) The first 10 minutes and 47 seconds of the meeting are dedicated to synchronizing all the members watches and clocks. It shouldn't take so long but Alexei always turns up wearing 3 or 4 Rolexes on each wrist and a couple on each ankle too. When he's finished and Colonel Greenwich has stopped tapping his pocket watch and muttering, the main business of the meeting can begin.
You may be wondering what exactly the main business of a Clock Society could be. At the Morecambe Clock Society, there is only ever one item on the agenda and it's the same every month... seeing what Cassie O'Hare, the clockmakers daughter, has come up with this time.
Cassie specializes in Cuckoo Clocks, or to be more precise, Cassie specialises in Bird Clocks. Once she built a Seagull Clock with a screeching little gull which would swoop out of the clock on the hour and snatch up any chips which happened to be nearby. Another time, she brought her delicate little Blackbird Clock which chirrups and tweets sweetly exactly at dawn every morning. However, everyone's favourite was the month when Cassie brought her Chicken Clock. At breakfast time every day, a little wooden chicken emerged from the clock's doors and laid a golden brown soft boiled egg.